


"No Ties This Year, Just Macaroni Cards and Heart-Shaped Pancakes"

by Hikaru Morinaga (SailorVFan10)



Series: Winnermart Oneshots [2]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Children, Father's Day, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 19:50:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1791088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorVFan10/pseuds/Hikaru%20Morinaga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Father's Day, and five-year-old Ariana decides to do something special for the three equally special men in her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"No Ties This Year, Just Macaroni Cards and Heart-Shaped Pancakes"

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in Winnermart 'verse. Happy Father's Day!

Today was a special day, and Ariana was covered in flour. If anyone had asked her why she looked like she'd had a bag of flour explode open on her, well... It hadn't exploded open, first of all—it fell out of the cabinet and exploded on the _counter_ , which in turn got on her (and also on the counter and on the floor, and some of it even got on Peanut when he came in to see what was going on).

Because today was such a special day, she had taken it upon herself to make pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes from scratch, just like Otou-san made on Sundays. Of course Otou-san couldn't do much lately—he was days away from getting her baby sister from the Stork Store they had at the hospital—because Auntie Sally placed him on bed rest and told him to stay home for a while. So it was up to Ariana and her flour covered five-year-old hands to craft breakfast instead.

Right now there were splashes of pancake batter on the counter and twenty different bowls and cups and spoons, so many _spoons_ in the sink, and egg shells floating in the measuring cup Otou-san always used for everything ever. Compared to the last time she made breakfast, though, the mess was minimal. She mixed the ingredients carefully as she shoved the footstool—also covered in flour and bits of raw egg—over to the stove, where Otou-san's 'pancake frying pan' (which was just a large sized frying pan) was located. She had already prepared it with non-stick spray so her pancakes wouldn't end up mostly stuck to it (like they had the first time she made them).

She hopped back onto the stool and ignored the feeling of sticky egg whites gushing up from between her toes after accidentally stepping on that part. She grimaced. She carefully spooned the batter into the frying pan, manipulating it while it was still raw so she could try and make it into a heart shape. Only four pancakes could fit at one time, so she had to repeat this four more times, piling four heart-shaped (or somewhat heart-shaped) pancakes onto four plates, saving hers for last.

Ariana stepped back and took a minute to admire all her hard work before quickly de-egging her foot and grabbing a plate. Papa liked a dab of butter and a splash of syrup on his, so she meticulous measured out the syrup using a tea spoon after covering the entire center of the pancake with butter. It was eight in the morning and on Sundays Papa often talked on the phone with Uncle Jeff and some "very important people" she didn't know. Often he skipped breakfast, or just had tea, but Ariana wasn't going to let Papa miss breakfast on such an important day. Instead of him coming to breakfast, she'd bring breakfast to _him_.

~*~

Ariana stood in front of the door to Papa's office, trying to figure out how to open the door with her hands this full. In one hand she had the plate of pancakes. In the other, she had a cup of Irish Breakfast tea because Daddy forgot to buy Papa the tea he usually drank, and this was all they had that wasn't oolong or green tea. Under the arm with the tea, she had an oversized, obviously handmade card with a heart made from glued on dried macaroni tucked securely against her side. She stared a little longer before deciding her elbow could push down on the handle and all she'd have to do is push.

_Next time_ , Ariana vowed, _I'll use a breakfast tray_.  
She pushed the door open just in time to hear Uncle Jeff listing off sales reports and profit margins and stock prices rising to the highest they've been since before the Eve Wars... Boring adult stuff Ariana wasn't at all interested in, mostly because she had no idea what the heck they were even talking about. His back was to her—or rather, the back of his office chair was to her. He was fiddling with a pen and saying, "Uh-huh," or, "Oh, that's interesting," every now and then. He sounded bored to Ariana, and she couldn't blame him—she'd be bored too.

"Papa?" Her voice was soft. She didn't want to bother him, but _breakfast_ was here. And it was pancakes! And she used Otou-san's recipe, and Papa loved his pancakes! Plus her arms were getting tired.

Upon hearing 'Papa', Quatre turned in his chair to see his daughter standing in the doorway holding what looked like breakfast. Jeff rambled on, oblivious, because he hadn't heard and wasn't in the office, so he couldn't see Ariana standing there all covered in...was that flour?  
"For me?" Quatre asked, a soft smile on his face. Ariana nodded and came closer, handing him the plate of pancakes first. "What for?"  
She presented him with the handmade card. "Happy Father's Day, Papa!"

Jeff finally stopped rambling. Quatre took the card and kissed her forehead.  
"Oh yeah," Jeff said. "You're a father."  
 _Where were you five years ago?_ Quatre thought. "Thank you, Ari. I'm going to hang this right on my bulletin board so I can see it every time I come in here." He looked at the pancakes. "Did Hee—Otou-san help you with these?"  
Ariana shook her head. "Nope! I made them all by myself!" She kissed his cheek. "I need to give Otou-san his, and then clean up my mess so Daddy doesn't pass out at the kitchen again."

Quatre watched her run out of the room and chuckled at the butter on his pancakes.  
 _She definitely learned from Heero_.  
"If we can get back to business, Mr Winner—"  
"Actually," Quatre interrupted, "I think that will be all for today, Jeff."  
"But we're not—"  
"Jeff." Quatre cut into the extremely fluffy pancakes. They were still steaming hot—she must have just made them. "Go spend time with your family."  
"But—"  
Quatre sighed. "Jeffrey. I know you're used to my father and his workaholic tendencies and the fact that he put work before his family, but... I am not my father. My five-year-old daughter made me breakfast. I'm going to take the rest of the day off today and enjoy it."

He didn't wait for a response, just pressed 'end call' on the Skype window, and took a few moments to revel in the silence before taking a bite. He hummed in approval as he sank into his seat.  
 _Definitely learned this from Heero_.

~*~

Heero moved the pillow supporting his back for the fifth time in as many minutes. Nearing the end of his pregnancy meant never being comfortable, never finding that 'spot' that just felt so, so right. Especially not when he had a seven pound miniature human being kicking and punching his insides for most of the day. He groaned as said miniature human being kicked him particularly hard.  
"Give me a break, please..." Heero murmured. "I want you out just as much as you want out, believe me. You need to wait a few more days." He rested a hand on his extended abdomen and she kicked it.  
"Why did I think this was a good idea to do again...?" The fact that it took three years for Heero to get pregnant again and carry it beyond the first few weeks should have been a sign that there would be nothing easy about this time around.

He heard the sound of bare feet on the hardwood floor out in the hallway and a few seconds later Ariana was there. A smudge of flour was on her cheek, and sections of her light brown hair were tinged white. In her hands was a mug of what smelled like coffee and a plate of pancakes.

"Hi," Ariana said, before walking over to the bed with determination and...was that triumph? on her face. Heero tried to sit up a little more, but having just found that 'comfy spot', he didn't want to risk it.  
"...You cooked breakfast for me?" Heero asked as Ariana balanced the plate on top of the baby bump. Lucky for Heero, he didn't have much of a baby bump this go around. The mug went on the night stand.  
"Uh-huh. And for Daddy and for Papa too."  
"...There's no ulterior motive involved, is there?"

Ariana shook her head. "Nope! It's for a special occasion!"  
Heero cocked his head to the side. "Special occasion?"  
Ariana gave him the card she made. This one used mostly crayon instead of macaroni. Right at the top it said 父の日、おめでとう！( _Chichi no hi, omedetou!_ /Happy Father's Day). Her kanji was a little lopsided, but Heero could still make out what it said.  
"I can't really lean over to hug you, but thank you."  
Ariana climbed onto the bed and gave him a hug instead. He ruffled her hair before kissing her cheek.  
"Wanna hang out today in bed with 'Tou-san?"  
"In a bit," Ariana said, scooting off the bed now. "I gotta give Daddy his!"

Heero looked at the clock. "Daddy's at work. He won't be home for a while."  
Ariana grinned. "I'm bringing breakfast to my parents, not the other way around~"  
Before Heero could say anything, she was out of the room; he could hear her scamper on down the stairs. Quatre popped his head in shortly after she'd left.  
"Did you try them yet?"  
Heero shook his head. He looked Quatre up and down. "...Why are you in a shirt and tie and Eeyore pajama pants?"

Quatre flopped onto the bed before moving closer to Heero. "Video conference call. They only see my shirt, so why bother with slacks?"  
Heero's eyes focused in on Quatre's pants. "Yeah. Why bother." He bit into the pancakes, taking one bite... And then a second. And a third.  
"I taught her well," Heero said. "There's hope for you yet, Kat."

~*~

Ariana was glad there was no traffic this morning because otherwise this highway and her bike would not have gotten along too well. She locked her bike against one of the row number posts in the parking lot of Winnermart and with tupperware in one hand, card in the other, she made her way across the lot and to the store entrance, where there was a whole gathering of people smoking by the vending machines. Some of them gave her strange looks—hadn't they ever seen a five-year-old walking to Winnermart unattended before? She saw it all the time, especially when parents forgot their kids. How irresponsible of them. She would've thought they'd all know her by now.

Right inside there was a long queue for service desk. All three registers were in use and it still wasn't enough. Uncle Ray kept having to go back and forth from the podium to the registers for overrides or money loans. Sometimes both. She caught Ray mid-walk.  
"Where's the ZMS?"

Ray stopped. He had no idea. He spoke into his earpiece. "ZMS Duo, what's your location?"  
"AD office," came the reply. "Need somethin'?"  
Ray winked at Ariana. "He's in the office. Just ring the bell."  
Ariana skipped happily along towards the office. A customer decided to yell at her, saying that "brats shouldn't be left unattended," and so forth. She said nothing because Papa had always told her if she couldn't say anything nice or incredibly sassy, don't say anything at all because it's not worth the effort to come up with something nice or witty to say. She rang the doorbell to the AD office and it took a bit for her to get buzzed in. No one questioned why someone who was obviously too young to hold down a job was entering an employee only area.

There were only two places for her to go—straight ahead through a door labeled "cash office" or to the right towards the open door that said "managers' offices". Daddy was a manager of some kind, right? Logically he would be in there. She heard typing and muttered curses.  
 _Yep, that's Daddy_. She peered into the office, which was empty save for Auntie Kate and Daddy. Auntie Kate was rubbing her foot with one hand while typing up an email with the other. Daddy was in a rather intense game of Solitare. She knocked on the door frame.

Duo sighed in aggravation at his thirtieth straight loss when he heard the knock on the door frame. Glancing over, his sour mood dissipated at the sight of his daughter. Moving the chair back, he opened his arms wide and Ariana took that as an invitation to jump into them. Kate turned around to see what happened since Duo's chair ended up hitting the wall of the office, and was surprised to see Ariana there.  
"Hey, baby girl," Duo said, as he sat her on his lap. "What're you doin' here?"  
"I made you something." She grinned and presented Duo with the tupperware box. Duo took it and examined it. Inside were...pancakes?  
"Aww," Kate said. "What a nice thing to do for her daddy." She smiled. "Who brought you here?"  
"No one," Ariana answered. "I'm very self-sufficient. I rode my bike here." She placed her handmade card on her daddy's desk. "Happy Father's Day, Daddy!"

Duo blinked. "Well that explains why everyone's freaking out about us being sold out of neck ties." He squeezed Ariana tight as he grinned at Kate.  
"This is what you have kids for," he said.  
"Free shit?"  
"No no no. The little things. That's what." He gave Ariana an eskimo kiss.  
"Can I stay here with you? Papa's working and Otou-san's all grumpy. Can I? Pleaaaaaaaaaaase?"  
Duo glanced over to Kate, who shrugged.  
"After that cute display, how can I say no to my favourite niece?"

"ZMS Duo?"  
Ariana winced. His walkie was awfully loud. Duo picked it up and spoke directly into it.  
"Go for Duo."  
"I have a customer asking for Assistant Manager Heero and I can't find him."  
"He ain't in," Duo answered. "He's been on leave for about a week now. Anythin' I can help with?"  
There was a pause. Then, "Yeah, they just want a front-end manager who isn't a lowly 'peon'."  
Duo plugged his earpiece back in and clipped the walkie to his back pocket before scooping Ariana up.  
"Let's go deal with this customer, okay? And then I'll take a break or something and we can eat the pancakes you made together, all right?"  
Ariana nodded. "Okay!"

After they left the office, Kate went over to Heero's desk where Duo had parked himself since the beginning of his shift and stood the card up, placing it next to the picture of Heero, Duo, and Quatre with their two kids and their two dogs with the caption _our happy family_ written on it. She smiled before going back to the email she should've sent Rasid hours ago, but had neglected to do so because she'd only just been able to sit down and relax.

~Fin~


End file.
